


It's a Party

by CrushItWithABrick



Series: How We Get There (Extras) [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Birthday Party, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Children of Characters, Crew as Family, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Drabble, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gay Shiro (Voltron), Grumpy Keith (Voltron), Happy, Implied Mpreg, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Keith is a Good Parent, Krolia (Voltron) is a Good Parent, Lance is a Good Parent, M/M, Multi, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Other, POV Shiro (Voltron), Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Shiro (Voltron) is a Good Parent, Silly, Snippets, Sweet, Team as Family, kolivan uses emogis, krolia is a good grandmother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-23 21:43:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20233111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrushItWithABrick/pseuds/CrushItWithABrick
Summary: Shiro celebrates his twin sons' first birthday with an odd collection of people whom he loves.  His family.





	It's a Party

“Is that another little house?” Keith scowls at the oversized box leaning against the back door.

“They already have a little house in their bedroom.” “Exactly,” Lance replies. “This one is for OUTside. To go with the sandbox and. . .”

“Sandbox? Lance. . .”

“Relax,” Lance rolls his eyes at Keith and gives Shiro a little grin. Keith narrows his eyes at Shiro and Shiro shrugs.

“I’m staying out of this one.” He looks at Lance and pats the box. “Outside you say?”

“Yes. And thank you, Shiro. You’re so helpful.” Shiro grins at Keith and opens the door.

“Ass kisser,” Keith mutters to him as they wrestle the box out the door. Shiro chuckles.

“He’s going way overboard.”

“Hmm,” Shiro replies. Keith juts his chin at him in reply and Shiro adds. “Like you don’t spoil them?”

Keith huffs in reply but doesn’t deny it.

“You want help. . .” Keith huffs again and gives him a dismissive wave as he starts to open the box. Shiro kisses his cheek and returns to the house and hears the muffled sounds of crying coming from the baby monitor.

“I got it. . .” He calls into the kitchen where Lance is fussing over the food and, from the sounds of it, talking on the phone with Pidge.

He takes the stairs two at a time and goes to the nursery where he finds Charlie standing at the side of his crib. He stops crying as Shiro approaches and reaches for him.

“Are you faking?” Shiro picks him up and kisses his dry cheeks. Charlie giggles and babbles what sounds a bit like ‘papa’ mixed with grunts as he struggles to be put down. “In a minute. . .” Shiro continues to talk to him as they descend the stairs. “Wait until you see what your dad is building for you and your brother. And I heard something about a sandbox.” Charlie gives him a look as if he fully understands what he’s being told and Shiro laughs. “I know, very exciting.”

“Shiro. . .”

“DEEEEE!” Charlie shrieks in sheer joy at the sound of Lance’s voice and squeals when he sees him. “It was you making all that noise. . .” Lance gives the baby dramatic and noisy kisses and Charlie giggles maniacally. “Did you have a good nap?” Charlie reaches for him and Lance kisses him again. “You stay with Papa right now, I’m cooking.” He points at what looks more like a mess on the counter than anything else then makes a dramatic gasp at a knock on the front door. “Who’s here? Go with Papa and see.”

Charlie bounces against Shiro then lets out another ear piercing squeal when he sees Ezor and Zethrid.

“You are very loud,” Zethrid says to him as he reaches for her. She eagerly takes him and Charlie babbles at her and flails then reaches for Ezor.

“You are so cute,” Ezor says to him. She smiles at Shiro. “He looks so much like you, like more and more like you every day.”

Shiro hears that a lot and at first he didn’t see it. He only saw Lance in Charlie, with their caramel skin and curly hair. But as Charlie got older, it was hard not to see just how much he resembled Shiro. At first it was a little jarring, just like the first time he heard an acquaintance casually say “he’s your little clone!”. Shiro had smiled and nodded but the expression shook him. He was still wrestling with memories of Kuron. Or, rather, Kuron’s memories. They had started shortly after he got pregnant and ramped up when they learned he was having twins. The memories came to him in his dreams and were, more often than not, deeply sad. That sadness lingered long after Shiro woke and after a few weeks Lance registered concern as did Shiro’s therapist. They had started a new therapy, trying to reach the part of Shiro where Kuron still resided but hadn’t yet been successful. Kuron still came to him in dreams but now it was less sad and more hopeful and always focused on the children. Shiro felt Kuron’s love for them along with Kuron’s reluctance to present himself fully to Shiro. Shiro felt his fear, fear that showing himself fully would result in losing the children, his children.

Shiro leads their guests into the house and watches as Zethrid settles on the living room floor and sits Charlie in her crossed legs while Ezor sits beside her. Charlie babbles and both women nod at him as if they understand what he’s saying. That’s another strange thing Shiro had to get used to. Zethrid, who had nearly killed Keith at one point during the war, was now one of Keith’s closest friends and adored by both of their boys. Shiro still remembers the first time he saw her holding Andy. He was only a few weeks old and looked miniscule and terrifyingly fragile in her hands. But as she took him and held him to her broad chest, Shiro felt an overwhelming sense of calm. She was careful and tender with him and he knew he would be hard pressed to find a safer place for his infant son to be. She held him for a long time before trading him for Charlie. She cradled him just as tenderly and, when he cried, soothed him to sleep.

Ezor wasn’t quite as comfortable with such young babies, proclaiming they were just too fragile. She was stiff and apprehensive about holding them but with Zethrid’s encouragement slowly relaxed but was only truly comfortable with them now that they were older and much bigger. Now, she was fearless and eager to hold them and play with them and even peppered them with kisses.

“Where’s Andy?” Ezor asks Shiro. She grunts as Charlie launches himself from Zethrid’s lap and onto her. “Where’s your brother, huh?” She asks the boy. He flails and laughs at her and she smiles and tickles him. “We got him presents,” she continues. “Charlie, too.”

“Keith will love hearing that,” Shiro remarks. “He was just complaining about them being spoiled.”

“It’s their birthday,” Ezor counters with a loud sigh. “They should be spoiled on their special day.”

“And giving them gifts is even more fun when I know it makes Keith grouchy,” Zethrid adds. Both women chuckle.

“Where is he, anyway? Pouting somewhere?” Ezor asks.

“Kind of, yeah. He’s outside putting together a little surprise for them. . .or maybe it’s more for Lance. He was very excited about it. . .”

“It’s not for me,” Lance says from behind him. He swats Shiro’s rear and waves at the women. “Wait until you see how cute it is. You’re going to die.” He bounces his hip against Shiro’s. “I think Andy’s up. Go get him?”

“Your brother is up,” Ezor says to Charlie.

Shiro starts toward the stairs and is stopped by another knock at the door.

“Krolia. . .you don’t have to knock.”

“I don’t barge into people’s homes, Shiro,” she replies as Shiro ushers her in. “How are you?”

“Good, you?”

“Very well, thank you.” She stiffens slightly at the sight of Zethrid and Ezor with Charlie. It’s a small gesture but one Shiro has noticed before. He’d mentioned it to Keith and he’d replied with a shrug that his mother just doesn’t really like Zethrid and finds Ezor quite annoying. He added that Krolia did like Acxa and that one out of three wasn’t bad.

“Good luck getting him from them,” Shiro says to her. Krolia gives a tiny huff through her nose and Shiro gestures to the stairs. “I was just going to check on Andy if you. . .”

Krolia follows him upstairs to the nursery. Shiro notices her fully relax when she sees Andy wide awake in his crib, staring at them as if confused by how they appeared when he hadn’t yet summoned them with his cries.

“What are you pondering, little one?” Krolia says to the baby.“Did we surprise you?” She scoops him from the crib and looks at Shiro as she cups his diaper and makes a face. “Let your father take care of your mess then I’ll take you back, yes?”

Shiro takes his son and recoils slightly at the stink. Krolia chuckles.

“A perk of being a grandmother,” she says. “As a mother I did my share of cleaning foul messes but now I’m only willing when there is no one else to do it.”

“Don’t blame you,” Shiro calls over his shoulder as he sets to his stinky task. He can feel Krolia prowling around behind him, idly tidying the room. He smiles to himself at how much Keith is like her.

“Much better,” she says when Shiro passes the fresh baby to her. “Now, I’ll be a good example and make pleasant chit chat with your. . .” Krolia pauses ever so slightly. “Aunts.” She flicks her eyes at Shiro and arches her eyebrows at him.

Shiro follows Krolia to the living room where he takes requests for drinks then goes to the kitchen where he hears, before he sees, that the rest of their guests have arrived.

Shay is the first to greet him with a huge smile and hug. Next to Hunk, Shay is the kindest and most genuinely warm hearted person Shiro has ever met. She and Hunk are perfectly matched and seeing them together reminds Shiro that he does believe in seemingly silly things like soulmates and perfect matches and happily ever afters.

“The apartment is so nice,” she says to him. “You did such a great job remodeling it.”

“It was all Keith,” Shiro replies. He notices Pidge seated on the counter. “And Pidge,” he adds.

“I just helped with the fun stuff like demolition,” Pidge replies. “And bitched about all the noise.”

“Look. . .” Lance flaps his hand at Shiro and he goes to where Hunk is standing at the counter fussing over something.

“Hunk. . .” Shiro is surprised at the gorgeous cake in front of Hunk. Hunk grins at him and continues piping icing flowers onto it.

“Did you see. . .” Lance points at two smaller cakes further back on the counter. “How cute are they. . .look, little kitties and. . .” Lance holds one up and points out tiny figures. “They’re made from chocolate. You can finally eat a little tiny adorable kitty, Shiro.”

“Yeah, you should pop those off before you give them to the kids,” Hunk says without looking up from his work. “I got a little carried away and kind of forgot about choking hazards and. . .”

“My mother is going to pee when she sees them,” Lance interjects. “Not to throw shade. . .”

“Here comes the shade. . . “ Hunk glances at Shiro and they both laugh.

“. . .their cake was not nearly as cute as any of this. It was cute and all that but. . .yeah, you totally got grammie and grampie McClain’s party beat in the cake department, Hunk.”

“Well, that’s what it’s all about,” he says sarcastically. “One upping grandmas and grandpas.”

Shiro gets back to his original chore of retrieving drinks for the guests in the living room and notices Pidge watching him.

“Come on,” he nudges her and she slides from the counter to help him take the drinks to the living room.

“Kolivan get stuck at the meeting?” Pidge asks Krolia as she hands her her drink.

“Yes. He was disappointed he had to attend.” Krolia grins as she shakes her phone at Pidge. “I have already sent him several photos of the children as a little distraction from the tedium.”

“Did he look at them?”

“Oh, yes, immediately.” She shows the phone to Pidge. “He even replied.”

Pidge laughs and shows the phone to Shiro where Kolivan has replied with smiley faces and even a few hearts.

“That is hilarious,” she says.

“Yes,” Krolia agrees. “The little images appeal to his sense of brevity. They are very succinct. If he could use them in professional communications, I believe he would.”

“Even the little hearts?” Pidge laughs.

“No,” Krolia chuckles. “Those he reserves for the children. . .and me.”

Shiro chuckles and excuses himself from the conversation. He pauses in the kitchen then goes out to the backyard where Keith is kneeling over a large sheet of decals. Shiro sits the bottom of the beer bottle against the back of Keith’s neck and smiles as he hears him gasp.

“Was that really necessary?” Keith looks up at him and takes the bottle. He gestures at the sheet.

“These instructions are awful. They should have you put these stupid stickers on before you assemble the damn thing.”

Shiro looks a the fully assembled play house and the large decals.

“Yeah, probably but. . .” He kneels beside the house then gestures for Keith to pass him the sheet. He carefully peels one off and deftly applies it to the door. He smiles at Keith and moves to the next decal.

“I love stickers,” he says.

He hears Keith snicker and then snort before breaking into loud laughter. Shiro looks at him and Keith calms himself enough to say.

“Really, Shiro?” He snorts again and adds. “You love stickers.”

Shiro chuckles and nods.

“Since when?”

“Since. . .birth I guess. I can’t remember ever not loving stickers.”

Keith devolves into fresh peels of laughter and Shiro loves the sound. He continues to apply the decals while Keith slowly regains his composure.

“Want to hear something else funny?” Shiro asks. Keith nods as he sips from his beer and Shiro continues. “Kolivan loves emojis.”

Keith nods and gives a little grin.

“Yeah, funny, but old news,” Keith says.

“What? How did you. .. oh, did Krolia show you?”

“Yeah, the first time he did it. We cracked up. For someone who rarely smiles, he’s kind of obsessed with smiley faces.”

Shiro laughs as Keith grins at him.

“That’s better,” Shiro says. “Now take that smile inside and remember, it’s a party.”

Shiro points at the backdoor and notices Lance peering out the window at them. A moment later he comes out.

“Keith. . .it’s so cute!” He trots across the small backyard and grabs Keith and plants a huge kiss on his cheek. “They’re going to love it. Come on, you have to see the little cakes Hunk made for them.”

“I need to clean up.”

“I got it,” Shiro says. “Go.”

“Thank you, Shiro,” Lance sing songs then laughs as Keith rolls his eyes at them. “Your mom is being nice to Zethrid and Ezor, you don’t want to miss that, do you?”

“Really?” He looks at Shiro. “You didn’t mention that.”

“Come on. . .” Lance links his arm in Keith’s and leads him back to the house.

Shiro watches them go then hauls the pile of trash to the back corner of the small fenced yard and stuffs it into the recycling bin. He’s fairly certain, come trash collection day, that he’ll hear Keith muttering about how the recycling wasn’t properly separated and bundled and he smiles at the thought.

He’s still smiling when he returns to the house to see Lance holding a comm screen up at him while he waves.

“Say hi, Shiro. . .”

“Hi, Shiro,” he replies. Lance rolls his eyes and Shiro hears laughter from the screen. He can’t quite make out who’s enjoying his dumb joke but he recognizes the laughter. Lance’s mother and father (and, perhaps, his grandparents as well).

“Come on,” Lance grabs Shiro’s hand then speaks to the screen. “I know it’s kind of late there so we’re going to do the fun stuff first, before we eat. You remember Zethrid and Ezor, right?”

Shiro stands behind the sofa where Hunk, Shay, and Pidge have gathered and rests his chin on the top of Pidge’s head. She shakes him off with a laugh and offers him her glass. Without looking at it, he sips then hands it back to her.

“Bored,” he says to her.

“Not at all,” she replies. “All my favorite people are here. . .well, except for my dad. He sends his regrets and. . .” She drapes herself over the arm of the couch and retrieves her bag. She opens it and pulls out an envelope. “I love that they still do the old school membership card thing,” she says as Shiro looks inside the envelope. “They used to take me and Ma-. . .we used to go there all the time, when it was still a zoo with living creatures in it. The holo version is so much less depressing and you get to see all the alien species, too, even the really dangerous stuff.”

“Like that plant in Colleen’s greenhouse?”

Pidge laughs.

“Yeah, they came and scanned it for the botanical garden. It tried to bite one of the techs. She really needs to get rid of it but I think she’s bonded to it, like she thinks it’s her pet. This from the woman who didn’t want us to have a dog who, I might add, never bit or even tried to bite, anyone.” Pidge gives a little mixed sigh and laugh as she shakes her head. “Crazy Colleen.”

Andy flails toward them in that half walking, half stumbling run reserved only for drunks and toddlers and pitches into the side of the sofa as he loses his balance. Pidge laughs and hauls him up to sit next to her. He stares at her then smiles first at her and then at Shiro before climbing onto Hunk’s lap.

“Who is this?” Hunk grabs him and kisses him and Andy laughs and wiggles as Shay tickles him.

Shiro notices Keith seated on the floor with Krolia. Keith nudges her and she snaps a photo of Andy on the couch with Hunk, Shay, and Pidge, and quickly shows it to Keith. He grins and nods and Shiro knows Krolia is sending it to Kolivan.

“How many hearts did we get?” Shiro asks as he sits beside Keith.

“He hasn’t replied. . .oh, wait. . .” Krolia laughs then makes a sound close to an “aw” as she shows them the screen. There’s one (large) heart followed by a separate reply of a lone sad face. She takes the phone and types out a quick message Shiro can’t see then smiles as the phone buzzes a reply.

“Is he feeling left out?” Keith asks.

“Yes, but when I asked him if he’d like me to stop sending photos. . .” She trails off and shows them the screen._ Absolutely not. More photos. This meeting is insufferable._ Krolia smiles at them and says. “I’ll make a recording of the children for him. He’ll enjoy that.”

Andy squirms from Krolia’s lap and flops against Shiro.

“What?” Shiro asks him when he sees the little scowl on the boy’s face. It makes him look even more like Keith. Shiro kisses Andy’s little furrowed brow and tickles him until he relents and giggles. Shiro catches Keith’s eye and says to the boy. “You’re just like your dad.” Shiro points across the room to where Lance is gesturing at him. “Go see daddy.”

Shiro helps him to his feet and watches as he stagger runs to Ezor, deliberately avoiding Lance and the comm screen. Shiro chuckles and watches as Ezor and Zethrid hand each of the boys a wrapped package. There’s a bit of confusion from both children at first, with Charlie figuring it out first. He destroys the wrapping then grabs Andy’s gift, intent on tearing it open as well. Andy scowls at him slaps at Charlie, who squeals in protest. Zethrid calmly intervenes and, after a few minutes, both gifts are unwrapped revealing several stuffed creatures from different planets Ezor and Zethrid have visited. Shiro watches the scene for a few more moments then closes his eyes and lets out a long contented sigh.

He feels a pat on his face and opens his eyes to see Charlie holding a toy out to him as he babbles.

“I see,” Shiro encourages him.

He smiles as Charlie toddles away to continue his rounds, stopping to show the toy to everyone in the room.

His family.

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the larger world of my in progress fic, "How We Get There" (which is about how Shiro ends up having a family with Keith and Lance).
> 
> You don't need to read the bigger fic to enjoy this drabble (and vice versa) but with all drabbles set in the world of the larger fic, parts of the drabbles may end up in the bigger fic. (so there might be spoilers in the drabbles but maybe not)
> 
> This drabble is set roughly three years from the start of the larger fic. The trio are now in their own house and have settled into a nice little family routine (Keith still does missions with the Blade, Lance and Shiro are instructors at the Galaxy Garrison).
> 
> In case it wasn't obvious, Shiro gestated Andy and Charlie. Keith is Andy's "other father" and Lance is Charlie's "other father". (Shiro is "papa", Lance is "daddy", and Keith is "dad". . .but "dad" and "daddy" are sometimes used interchangeably for Lance and Keith)
> 
> I really enjoy writing up drabbles between chapters of the larger fic, so if you have any prompts/ideas you'd like written up, give me a comment.


End file.
